The authorities have confirmed its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in more than a year, after 40 chickens died on a poultry farm in Gombak, north of Kuala Lumpur last week.

Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said late yesterday that laboratory tests had "confirmed the death of the chickens was caused by H5N1 avian influenza" in a village in Batu 4, Jalan Genting-Kelang.

Muhyiddin sought to allay public fears, insisting the outbreak was an "isolated case" and saying all 110 chickens in the area had been destroyed, according to the official Bernama news agency.

The minister said no humans had been affected, and that "immediate and integrated action" had been taken by national and city officials in Kuala Lumpur to keep the virus from spreading.

Besides destroying the chickens on nearby farms, authorities put in place surveillance measures to ensure that no fowl were moved out of the affected area, he said.

"Action to disinfect all chicken coops in the affected area was also carried out, while monitoring of the area and its residents was continuing," he said.

Last outbreak in January 2005

Malaysia last announced an H5N1 outbreak in late 2004 in a village in northern Kelantan state, and had declared itself free of bird flu in January 2005.

Livestock breeding is a major industry in Malaysia, employing thousands of workers and with investments worth millions of dollars.

Ramli Rahmat, director of disease control, told AFP that the Health Ministry had put in place an action plan to prevent the spread of the virus to humans.

"We have imposed a surveillance on the villagers. We have to see to the people. We are ready," he said.

More than 90 people have died from bird flu in China, Southeast Asia, Iraq and eastern Turkey since 2003. So far, there have been no human deaths in Malaysia due to the virus.